AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2019 - 20

WAYPOINTS

In support of the Bahamas

BY THOMAS B. HAINES
Editor in Chief

GA helping a neighbor
THE CONTROLLER SP OKE HEAVILY ACCENTED

Editor in Chief
TOM HAINES has
flown to many of
the Out Islands
in the Bahamas
and in 2011 the
Bahamian government awarded him
the Cacique Award
for Travel Writer of
the Year.

English: "Turn left to heading zero niner zero. You
are number 15 for landing."
Our first contact with the Bahamian controller
caused the two of us in the front seats to look quizzically
at each other-that RCA dog look. Number 15 for landing. What does that mean? It shouldn't be long, right?
At EAA AirVenture, that would be about five minutes,
landing two and three airplanes at a time. At a typical international airport, it might be 15 or 20 minutes.
But this wasn't your usual international airport. It was
Lynden Pindling International in Nassau, Bahamas, a
few days after Category 5 Hurricane Dorian had brushed
by and before it had parked itself over nearby Grand
Bahama and Abaco for some 40 hours ("Pilot Briefing:
GA Rallies to Help in the Bahamas," p. 44). You've seen
video of the destruction-apocalyptic in places.
With a team of relief organizers from Operation 300
on board, our mission was to meet with Bahamian officials
to help them understand the needs of GA relief organizations and how we could expedite the usual paperwork
and fees required for coming and going to the Bahamas.
Numerous vectors later we were headed west past
New Providence Island and toward Andros, followed by
other vectors in all directions. The approach control frequency was busy and the traffic display alive with all types
of aircraft. A Cessna Caravan on floats whizzed by us, a
thousand feet below our 4,000-foot assigned altitude.
Thirty minutes after first contacting approach, we
were number 13 for landing. This was going to be an
ordeal. About 30 minutes later, we were cleared for the
approach and were soon clearing customs at the Odyssey
Aviation FBO. The ramp was full of airplanes and helicopters of all types; the FBO lobby stuffed with relief workers
looking to move to areas in need, and individuals and families attempting to get out of the country. Six of us piled
into two cars for the trip to the government buildings.
I quizzed the woman driving us about conditions in
Nassau when the storm passed by. "Oh, this street we're
on, it was flooded," she said with that lovely Bahamian
accent. "You couldn' get through." Standing water on both
sides of the street indicated it had cleared only recently.
"And the wind?" I asked
"Oh, not bad. Eighty with gusts to hundred or so."
Clearly, we were from different parts of the world!
Eighty knots-or miles per hour-would send most of
us into panic mode.

20 | AOPA PILOT November 2019

A few minutes later we were in the office of the minister of health, who was tasked with overseeing the
humanitarian efforts on the affected islands. He was
receptive to our requests, but said he was not in a position to make the decisions necessary to simplify flight or
maritime operations. He promised, though, to relay our
needs to others in the cabinet and the prime minister.
We knew it would be difficult to get immediate
and concrete decisions; bureaucracies don't work that
way, especially in times of crisis. One of our passengers
stayed behind to attempt to meet with staff members
close to the deputy prime minister. Meanwhile, we
headed back to the FBO, now even more packed with
relief workers anxious to get to their assignments.
Wait time to pick up IFR clearances back to the
States-or anywhere else-was something more than two
hours, according to those pacing around the FBO. One of
our passengers had a connection to a Coast Guard admiral
and after a phone call by him, miraculously our clearance
became available. Although the airport infrastructure at
Nassau was undamaged by the storm, the pace of arrivals
and departures-now after dark-was slow. I'm told that
even during normal operations the airport only allows one
arrival every 10 minutes. We taxied in a long line of airliners and GA airplanes and after another 30 minutes, finally
launched for Stuart, Florida, where CBP agents stayed late
to clear us-and were friendly to boot.
I met with U.S. Customs and Coast Guard officials
the next day along with relief organizations in an effort
to also educate them about the needs and capabilities of
GA airplanes. AOPA President Mark Baker was also on
site in Florida, fielding dozens of calls a day and hosting
a twice-daily conference call with various government
agencies and relief groups to coordinate efforts.
Within a few days flight operations improved, but also
about then the larger airports opened up and big military
and relief airplanes, as well as ships, began delivering supplies en masse. At this writing GA flights continue into select
remote areas, carrying specialty relief workers and supplies.
Rebuilding will take years. You can help now by taking your GA airplane to the Out Islands farther south,
which were mostly undamaged. The resorts there will
welcome your visit and the money you spend will help
support a struggling country.
AOPA
EMAIL thomas.haines@aopa.org

@tomhaines29

AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2019

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